Practical Directions against Tippling and Drunkenness

Direct. I. Write over thy bed and thy chamber door, where thou mayst read it every morning before thou goest forth, some text of holy Scripture that is fit to be thy memorandum: as 1 Cor. vi. 10, “Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God;” and Rom. viii. 13, “If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live:” and read it before thou goest out of thy doors.

Direct. II. Also fall down on thy knees to God, and earnestly beg of him to keep thee that day from temptations, and ill company, and from all thy fleshly desires and excess; and especially that he would renew thy nature, and give thee a hatred of the sin.

Direct. III. Keep thyself in the constant employments of thy calling, and spend not one quarter of an hour in idleness, and allow not leisure to thy thoughts, so much as to think of thy drink and pleasures; much less to thy body to follow it. God hath commanded thee, whoever thou art, to labour six days, and in the sweat of thy brows to eat thy bread, and hath forbidden idleness and negligence in thy calling: avoid this, and it will help thee much.

Direct. IV. Reckon not upon long life, but think how quickly death will come, and that for aught thou knowest thou mayst die that day; and how dreadful a case it would prove to thee, to be found among tipplers, or to die before thou art truly converted. Think of this before thou goest out of thy doors; and think of it as thou art going to the alehouse: look on the cup and the grave together: the dust of those bones will be wholesome spice to thee. Remember when thou seest the wine, or ale, how unlike it is to that black and loathsome liquor which thy blood and humours will be turned into when thou art dead. Remember that the hand that taketh the cup, must shortly be scattered bones and dust; and the mouth that drinketh it down, must shortly be an ugly hole; and the palate, and stomach, and brain that are delighted by it, must shortly be stinking puddle: and that the graves of drunkards are the field or garden of the devil, where corpses are sowed to rise at the resurrection to be fuel for hell.

Direct. V. When thou art tempted to the alehouse, call up thy reason, and remember that there is a God that seeth thee, and will judge thee, and that thou hast an endless life of joy or torment shortly to possess, and that thou hast sinned thus too long already, and that without sound repentance thy case is desperate, and that thou art far from true repentance while thou goest on in sin. Ask thyself, Have I not sinned long enough already? Have I not long enough abused mercy? Shall I make my case remediless, and cast away all hope? Doth not God stand by, and see and hear all? Am I not stepping by death into an endless world? Think of these things, and use thy reason, if thou be a man, and hast reason to use.

Direct. VI. Exercise thyself daily in repenting for what is past; and that will preserve thee for the time to come. Confess thy former sin to God with sorrow, and beg forgiveness of it with tears and groans. If thou make light of all that is past, thou art prepared to commit more. Think as thou goest about thy work, how grievously thou hast sinned against thy knowledge and conscience; in the sight of God; against all his mercies; and how obstinately thou hast gone on, and how unthankfully thou hast rejected mercy, and neglected Christ, and refused grace. Think what had become of thee, if thou hadst died in this case; and how exceedingly thou art beholden to the patience of God, that he cut thee not off, and cast thee not into hell, and that he hath provided and offered thee a Saviour, and is yet willing to pardon and accept thee through his Son, if thou wilt but resolvedly return, and live in faith and holiness. These penitent thoughts and exercises will kill thy sin and cure thee. Fast and humble thyself for what thou hast done already: as the holy apostle saith, 1 Pet. iv. 1-5, “Forasmuch as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.”

Direct. VII. Keep from the place and company: Eph. v. 7, 11, “Be not partakers with them. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Thou canst not deny but thou art able to do this if thou wilt. Canst thou not stay at home and come not near them? If thou be willing to escape, run not into the snare.

Direct. VIII. Stop at the first cup: be not drawn on by little and little: as the sluggard saith, Yet a little more sleep; so the drunkard saith, Yet a little more drink; I will take but one cup more. Understand thy due measure, that thou mayst know what is excess: to an ordinary healthful body, that doth not very much labour and sweat, a quart in a day is enough; to cold and phlegmatic persons it is too much: the old rule was, Prima ad sitim, secunda ad hilaritatem, tertia ad voluptatem, quarta ad insaniam: The first cup is for thirst, the second for mirth, the third for sensual pleasure, the fourth for madness. Especially you that have drunk too much so long, should rather drink less than other men: your souls require it for penitence and for prevention; your bodies require it, to cure the crudities already heaped up.

Direct. IX. Avoid the tempting ceremonies of drunkards, such as drinking healths, or urging others to pledge them, or drink more. Plutarch saith, that when Agesilaus was made the master of a feast, and was to prescribe the laws for drinking, his law was, If there be wine enough, give every one what he asketh for; if not enough, divide it equally; by which means none were tempted or urged to drink, and the intemperate were ashamed to ask for more than others. As among witches, so among drunkards, the devil hath his laws and ceremonies, and it is dangerous to practise them.

Direct. X. Go to thy sinful companions to their houses, and tell them plainly and seriously that thou repentest of what thou hast done already, and that thou art ashamed to remember it; and that now thou perceivest that there is a righteous God, and a day of judgment, and an endless punishment to be thought on, and that thou art resolved thou wilt be voluntarily mad no more; and that thou wilt not sell thy soul and Saviour for a merry cup; and beseech them for the sake of Christ, and of their souls, to join with thee in repentance and reformation; but let them know, that if they will not, thou comest to take thy leave of them, and art resolved thou wilt no more be their companion in sin, lest thou be their companion in hell. If thou art willing indeed to repent and be saved, do this presently and plainly; and stick not at their displeasure or reproach: if thou wilt not, say thou wilt not, and say no more thou canst not; but say, I will keep my sin and be damned: for that is the English of it.

Direct. XI. Suppose when the cup of excess is offered thee, that thou sawest these words, sin and hell, written upon the cup, and sawest the devil offering it thee, and urging thee to drink, and sawest Christ bleeding on the cross, and calling to thee, O drink not that which costeth so dear a price as my blood! Strongly imprint this supposition on thy mind: and it is not unreasonable; for certainly sin is in thy cup, and hell is next to sin; and it is the devil that puts thee on, and it is Christ unseen that would dissuade thee.

Direct. XII. Suppose that there were mortal poison in the cup that is offered thee: ask thyself, Would I drink it if there were poison in it? If not, why should I drink it when sin is in it, and hell is near it? and the supposition is not vain. It is written of Cyrus, that when Astyages observed that at a feast he drank no wine, and asked him the reason, he answered, because he thought there was poison in the cup, for he had observed some that drunk out of it, lost their speech or understanding, and some of them vomited, and therefore he feared it would poison him: however, it is poison to the soul.

Direct. XIII. Look soberly upon a drunken man, and think whether that be a desirable plight for a wise man to put himself into. See how ill-favouredly he looks, with heavy eyes, and a slabbering mouth, stinking with drink or vomit, staggering, falling, spewing, bawling, talking like a mad-man, pitied by wise men, hooted at by boys, and madly reeling on towards hell. And withal look upon some wise and sober man, and see how composed and comely is his countenance and gesture; how wise his words, how regular his actions, how calm his mind; envied by the wicked, but reverenced by all that are impartial. And then bethink thee which of these it is better to be like. Saith Basil, Drunkenness makes men sleep like the dead, and wake like the sleeping. It turneth a man into a useless, noisome, filthy, hurtful, and devouring beast.

Direct. XIV. If all this will not serve turn, if thou be but willing, I can teach thee a cheap restraint, and tell thee of a medicine that is good against drunkenness and excess. Resolve that after every cup of excess thou wilt drink a cup of the juice of wormwood, or of carduus, or centaury, or germander; at least, as soon as thou comest home and growest wiser, that this shall be thy penance; and hold on this course but a little while, and thy appetite will rather choose to be without the drink, than to bear the penance. Do not stick at it; if thy reason be not strong enough for a manly cure, drench thyself like a beast, and use such a cure as thou art capable of; and in time it may bring thee to be capable of a better. And I can assure thee, a bitter draught is a very cheap remedy to prevent a sin.

Direct. XV. If all this will not serve, I have yet another remedy if thou be but willing: confess thyself unfit to govern thyself, and give up thyself to the government of some other; thy wife, thy parents, or thy friend. And here these things are to be done: 1. Engage thy wife, or friend, to watch over thee, and not to suffer thee to go to the alehouse, nor to drink more than is profitable to thy health. 2. Deliver thy purse to them, and keep no money thyself. 3. Drink no more at home but what they give thee, and leave it to them to judge what measure is best for thee. 4. When thou art tempted to go to the alehouse, tell thy wife or friend, that they may watch thee. Even as thou wouldst call for help if thieves were robbing thee. 5. Give leave to thy wife or friend to charge the ale-sellers to give thee no drink; and go thyself when thou art in thy right mind, and charge them thyself to give thee none; and tell them that thou art not thyself, or in thy right wits, when thou desirest it. If these means seem now too hard to thee, and thou wilt sin on, and venture upon the wrath and curse of God and upon hell, rather than thou wilt use them, remember hereafter that thou wast damned because thou wouldst be damned, and that thou chosest the way to hell to escape these troubles, and take that thou gettest by it; but do not say, thou couldst not help it, for I am sure thou canst do this if thou wilt. Thou wilt lock thy door against thieves; lock thy mouth also against a more dangerous thief, that would rob thee of thy reason and salvation. Saith Basil, If his master do but box or beat his servant, he will run away from the strokes; and wilt thou not run away from the drink that would break thy brains and understanding?

Direct. XVI. But the saving remedy is this, study the love of God in Christ, and the riches of grace, and the eternal glory promised to holy souls, till thou be in love with God, and heaven, and holiness, and hast found sweeter pleasure than thy excess, and then thou wilt need no more directions. Read Eph. v. 18.